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Sleepy Hollow Review: The Witch is Back

After a rather thrilling start, it was inevitable that the second episode of Sleepy Hollow would be a bit of a letdown. That's not to say there isn't a lot of promise to the premise (alliteration!) and magic between the leads (pun!) - but there were some gaping holes that need to be addressed.

You know you have questions, and I'm here to help you through them. Let's roll!

I can't say that I wasn't just a little disappointed that both well-known actors who were killed off in the premiere reappeared so quickly. If you're willing to take a chance by cutting down unexpected characters, then stick with it. If just one had come back, it would have been acceptable. Both? So much for taking chances.

Captain Irving tried to place the seeds of doubt into Abbie's head by showing her video of Andy smashing his own head into the mirror of his cell, thereby thrusting said head halfway down his back on his broken neck. Because that would happen. Then Irving just disappeared. He apparently received no calls about Andy stomping around town in uniform. None of his old pals saw him, nobody was concerned about his grave injury enough to call for help.

Granted, he could have been invisible and we just weren't informed of that development. Satan can do those things. It was just a stretch.

The return of Clancy Brown, however, was more organic to the story. It made sense that Abbie would see her friend and mentor if not exactly in visions, at least in her dreams. I can accept Sheriff Corbin as Abbie's spiritual guide.

Ichabod Crane is still getting used to the new world in which he finds himself, and although Abbie doesn't think it's going to score him any points and keep him out of lockup to share his opinion on it, these are some of the more entertaining moments so I hope the intent isn't to eradicate them completely. I especially enjoyed this Sleepy Hollow quote:

Ichabod: What's insane is a 10 percent levy on baked goods. You do realize the Revolutionary war began on less than two percent. How is the public not flocking to the streets in outrage? We must do something. | permalink

It's nice to have someone around who remembers why the country was founded and to give a little shove to those of us who forget. Ten percent levy on baked goods indeed!

The mystery of the week was solved rather quickly, and had little to do with the four horsemen of the Apocalypse. Katrina was kind enough to point out that the horsemen were, indeed, the biblically mentioned conquest, war, famine and death. In keeping with the biblical theme, I thought I'd look up who the big bad they were fighting might be.

According to Katrina, Serilda of Abaddon was the high priestess who ruled the dark coven during the Revolutionary war when dueling covens of good and evil were active in the town. According to The Bible, Abaddon is noted as a place of destruction. In the Hebrew bible it is used with reference to a dwelling place of the dead and in Revelation 9:11 the interpretation (as in most of the book) is open, often being viewed as either the Antichrist or satan himself.

At this point, are we assuming the horned being is either the Antichrist or satan? What are your thoughts on that? Is it too early to call? We'll be having a round table for Sleepy Hollow and we'll try to tackle that question.

A it turned out, Serilda the witch was bound by a spell from the good coven and ended up being burned at the stake, but not until after she cast a spell on the ancestors of everyone who sealed her fate. After Andy ensured she had the ashes she needed by the end of the "Blood Moon" in order to have her powers returned to her along with a splash of immortality, she thought she was home free.

Apparently being a powerful witch with biblical ties to satan doesn't protect you from fire a first time, or a second. All it took to stop her from achieving her goals was another properly placed flame. That seemed ridiculously easy. The demons and creatures on Supernatural are far more difficult to stop and sometimes come back more than once. I hope the four horsemen aren't the only real threats to this sleepy little town.

We were left with some questions hanging as we wait until next week. What is the Number 49 Sheriff Corbin was talking about when he told Abbie that's when she would know she wasn't alone, and when will the spring her sister, Jenny, from the asylum now that we know the horned creature is onto her? The good and evil covens that were active as far back as the Revolutionary war - Corbin believed they were still going strong. Could that be why people get a questionable feeling about Captain Irving?

We have some good, some not-so-good and a lot of promise to Sleepy Hollow. I'm not going anywhere. The season is short, but it was planned to be short. They can take their time to develop the story and not rush it along. It wouldn't upset me to learn more about the overall nature of the town and its history rather than have a supernatural case of the week situation going on. What did learning of Serilda really teach us? That they can fight evil easier than they thought, I suppose.

What did you think about the second outing? Did it hold your attention as much as the premiere and will you be hanging in with us next week?

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I agree the second show was a little of of a let down. It was funny that IC had post it notes every where telling him what was what. It was a little odd that nobody wondered where the door went that was in the storage area. The door was plain as day and nobody ever went in to see where it went and what was in it? I did think the witch was a little to easy to kill. I was also wondering why nobody was missing the dead policeman and his police car. Also can your neck strech back that far? Still getting a Captain Renard vibe with the captain on this show. Love Clancy Brown hope they keep him on the show. I will keep watching.

shazzz•September 24, 2013 15:14

It deserves a chance...and Mr. Crane is so nice to look at

bklynced•September 24, 2013 14:36

(grrr- my babble was cut off/end thought)The show can improve, or rapidly decline, based on pacing and development. I am forgiving of shows like this that need time to find their footing. There is enough interest for me to keep positive with Sleepy Hollow for the first season.

bklynced•September 24, 2013 14:33

The second episode was clearly not as strong as the first. I believe that had more to do with a less powerful, more easily dispatched foe in the witch being the focal point of this week's quest. Without much in the way of backstory or power, she was a relatively easy opponent and far less interesting than our mirror demon or last week's headhunter. The setup was not as well executed either as needed objects were too casually placed and too conveniently located for the resolution. Abby's character development is building nicely with her interactions with Corbin. The one flaw for her development this week is she is not presented as an FBI ready character. She seems to rely more on what people feed her than use her own skill sets to engage in the story. An example would be Hemlock Grove's Dr. Clementine Chasseur, as strong female who can hold her own intellectually and physically. Better balance between Abby and Ichabod would be useful moving forward.The show can improve, or rapidly decline, based on pacing and development. I am forgiving of shows that take time to find their footing. There is enough interest for me to keep positive with Sleepy Hollow for the first season.

R•September 24, 2013 13:51

I'm not going to fall into the practice of judging and entire season before it's aired (Buckminster). I thought that the 'big bad' this week wasn't scary at all, but we're only on episode 2. Chill out. I know people are all about instant gratification, but I plan on sticking out the whole season. I'm excited about John Noble coming on board. I like to see Ichabod trying to adapt to the 21st century....they should keep having that pop up. He sure got used to cars easily enough. The big bad next week looks interesting. I'm sorry but in Supernatural...it WAS that easy to kill some of the demons they came up against (at least in the early seasons). It took an episode, but they were killed off. I don't think they are killing characters off for no reason. That's a arrogant statement. But if you don't like the show after 2 episodes...by all means, don't watch anymore. Of course that would mean you can't come on the boards and complain to puff yourself up.

David•September 24, 2013 13:19

During the show i noticed our dvr channel indicator read 666. Very creepy. Did anyone else notice this?

"As it turned out, Serilda the witch was bound by a spell from the good coven and ended up being burned at the stake, but not until after she cast a spell on the ancestors of everyone who sealed her fate." That should be "... she cast a spell on the descendants of everyone who sealed her fate." She is going after those whose ancestors sealed her fate.